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Should I Use Studded Winter Tires?
When I was posted to Fort St. John detachment, the decision was easy, our family car had four studded winter tires. Once I was transferred to Penticton, these tires went with the car when we traded it in and we used all season tires throughout the year. Now that we live on Vancouver Island, we've come full circle and just purchased a set of four studded winter tires.
Compared to the rest of the province, much of the lower mainland and Vancouver Island might be considered almost tropical in the winter months. Why would one even consider using winter tires instead of all season tires, much less invest in tire studs for them? It turns out that studded tires can be very useful.
Tests conducted in Finland in 2003 on a variety of winter road surfaces using a number of major tire brands found that studded winter tires were superior to studless winter tires or all season tires in all conditions including, ice, snow, slush and wet pavement. They failed in only one area, running quietly on dry pavement.
The most deceptive winter driving condition is black ice. It is under these very treacherous conditions, when drivers are unknowingly driving close to the limit of adhesion, that the extra friction provided by studded tires can prove to be a real life saver. Does this sound like all roads anywhere in British Columbia at some time during the winter?
Sorry, I'm still waiting for permission to link a document here
Comments
Studded tires or not to stud it's not well researched here
Your story on studded tires, although a good idea is certainly out of date. As you publish representing ICBC and in turn, all British Columbians, make sure your research is up to date. The research you quote is certainly dated and with the new tire compounds with tires changing from ice or snow to combined in most, if not all cases give a much better control and braking parameters.
"About 70 percent of Swedes drive on studded tires in winter -- but some Swedish tire experts have been getting better results lately from improved studless tires, which use porous rubber (crisscrossed with thousands of tiny cuts, known as sipes) to stick to the ice. Sweden is considering a ban on studded tires in cities, where they're accused of tearing up the roads and polluting the air with asphalt dust. "
Found here http://www.consumersearch.com/snow-tires/review
Not hard to find, so please this article reads like a mountie wrote it, not a great researcher, do ya think?
Careful.....
Everyone please note, I do NOT represent ICBC, nor do I represent all British Columbians. I run the site as a hobby and am careful to point out in both the About DriveSmartBC and Disclaimer that although I do my best, being human, I may make errors and omissions. I also point out that this is a community oriented web site, inviting comments like this one from visitors in order to provide a more complete viewpoint on the topic.
dosouth provides information that is cutting edge, and having read the link that was provided, my attention was drawn to "However, other Scandinavian experts still get the best ice grip with studded tires -- and most agree that some studded tires are necessary to chew up the ice so that studless tires can stick." So let's not get the idea from the comment that the original article is out of date and that studded tires are no longer the best answer to winter traction.